LUCKNOW, Sept. 12 -- Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said it was wrong to assume that youth were moving away from books. The success of book festivals in Lucknow and Gorakhpur was evidence that youngsters wanted to read when books were made accessible to them, he added.

Inaugurating the nine-day Gomti Book Festival at Lucknow University, the chief minister said the response to the festivals had dispelled the notion that young people spent their time only on social media.

"We simply hadn't made the effort to bring books to them. They do want to read, but we must establish a system to deliver books to them," he said.

Adityanath said the book festival was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of connecting India's a...